Developing performance measurements for ecotourism companies

Abstract: The UNWTO estimated global receipts from international tourism were approximately US$733 billion in 2006 (UNWTO 2007:4). The ecotourism market has become a rapidly growing segment of the tourism industry, with approximately a 30 percent increase in revenues annually (Zaslow 2006). A widely accepted definition of ecotourism is provided by the International Ecotourism Society (TIES): “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people” (TIES 2007). Most ecotourism businesses have limited personnel and capital (Middleton and Clark 2001). Thus, they are critically aware of the need to succeed financially; however, because of their unique focus, these organizations must also concentrate on performance in many nonmonetary realms. This paper adapts the “traditional” BSC introduced by Kaplan and Norton (1992) for an ecotourism company’s use and suggests measurements for each perspective to help assess progress toward the organizational mission.Keywords: Balanced scorecard, Ecotourism, Environment, Measurement, Performance